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Travel Q&A: London, Tokyo, more

By Staff, The Washington Post

Posted:
11/05/2013 09:18:22 AM PST

Updated:
11/05/2013 09:18:30 AM PST

Shard and Tower Bridge form a beautiful backdrop in London. (Charles Bowman/Getty Images)

Q: My husband and I want to go to Italy next spring and are thinking about flying business class, but prices are crazy. I came across Alpha Flight Guru online, a company that sells discounted business-class tickets. Are companies like this credible?

A: I'm wary of companies that sell discounted tickets. Alpha Flight Guru has an A rating with the Better Business Bureau, but there are lots of negative comments about it on various discussion boards. Have you looked into premium economy? You could fly British Airlines or Virgin Atlantic into London at the premium economy level and then connect into Italy.

— Carol Sottili

Q: My 26-year-old daughter will have four days after visiting London. She loves history, pop culture, film. Any suggestions for where she should go?

A: I highly recommend Bath. It's oozing with history, and gorgeous. For pop culture, she could check out the Fashion Museum. Many films — Jane Austen adaptations, especially — have been shot in town.

— Becky Krystal

Q: My husband and I are traveling to Tokyo to visit our son and his girlfriend. We plan to meet in Tokyo and take the train to Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What's the best train to take and places to stay?

A: Japan travel can be very complicated. You might look into one of the packages from Japanican that include train travel from Tokyo to Kyoto and lodging in Kyoto.

— Joe Yonan

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Q: Our family would like to head south for the week between Christmas and New Year. We've been to historic Charleston, but would like to explore the environs this time. We'll have teens with us. Would you recommend Isle of Palms (possibly Wild Dunes)? My oldest recently took up golf, and the rest of us like running, biking, hiking.

A: Isle of Palms and Wild Dunes would be terrific with teens. Wild Dunes is consistently rated one of South Carolina's best family resorts. You can rent a whole house, and there are a couple of great golf courses, a pool and gym, bike rentals, tennis courts and of course the beautiful loooong beach where you can run/walk/swim to your heart's content.

— Zophia Smardz

Q: I'm going to Kyrgyzstan via Turkey and Greece. Are there differences in my perks and protections (frequent flyer miles, delay/change/cancellation notifications, etc.) if I buy my tickets from a consolidator, an online agent such as Expedia or directly from an airline?

A: Yes, there are. If you go through a consolidator, which buys tickets in bulk from an airline and resells them at a discount, you may not be able to collect frequent flier miles. Also, there might be additional restrictions, limiting the kinds of changes you can make to the ticket. Read the fine print before buying.